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Got mine, thanks Artisan. Will report back tomorrow.
Artisan Shaving Soap (Mark 5) Testing...
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I've had not one but two parcels to Europe go via Australia which have (belatedly) arrived in the last week or so; hope you have better luck Mrkii. 
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Mine has arrived Will test it over the weekend and report back early in the week
Will test it over the weekend and report back early in the week
OP
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Thanks everyone!
Glad they are now arriving - although I hope not via Australia Is that why they charge so much do you think? :lol:
I too am going away for the weekend, so won't be in a position to post on theshavingroom, but I look forward to what you lovely Chaps have to say about the Mark 5 when I get home.
Many thanks again,
Artisan
Glad they are now arriving - although I hope not via Australia
Is that why they charge so much do you think? :lol: I too am going away for the weekend, so won't be in a position to post on theshavingroom, but I look forward to what you lovely Chaps have to say about the Mark 5 when I get home.
Many thanks again,
Artisan
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soapalchemist said:I've had not one but two parcels to Europe go via Australia which have (belatedly) arrived in the last week or so; hope you have better luck Mrkii.
So do I. Amazon comes through OK everytime, but private parcels via Royal Mail seem to be hit & miss. Sometimes they're amazingly quick. Other times .... 3 weeks. Sunburyboy's bay rum took 4 days. Some other stuff posted early last week I'm still waiting for. At the same time, an order from shaving.ie (with regular posting) was sent on Wednesday, arrived Friday. That is as good as local mail.
/marcel
Artisan's Mark 5 Shaving Soap
Just thought, having now had my first shave with the Mrk 5, that I'd start off a thread on the results.
Initial thoughts on first use are thatthis is a really mild, gentle feeling soap which face lathers excellently & gave more than sufficient lather for me to have my usual two passes & then tidy up in the wrinkles. It's a lighter, or less dense lather than many soaps produce and has a gr8 frictional co efficient. There is no appreciable scent, just a generally clean soapy aroma. Having had plenty of skin problems & reactions over the years I'd think that this could be an ideal soap for a shaver who feels that they have sensitive or easily irritated skin.
I'll be interested to read others' experiences as for myself I'd think that this soap must be at (or very nearly at) the marketable stage and should be of interest to anyone with fair skin or who experiences frequent razor burn.
JohnnyO. \ :shave
Just thought, having now had my first shave with the Mrk 5, that I'd start off a thread on the results.
Initial thoughts on first use are thatthis is a really mild, gentle feeling soap which face lathers excellently & gave more than sufficient lather for me to have my usual two passes & then tidy up in the wrinkles. It's a lighter, or less dense lather than many soaps produce and has a gr8 frictional co efficient. There is no appreciable scent, just a generally clean soapy aroma. Having had plenty of skin problems & reactions over the years I'd think that this could be an ideal soap for a shaver who feels that they have sensitive or easily irritated skin.
I'll be interested to read others' experiences as for myself I'd think that this soap must be at (or very nearly at) the marketable stage and should be of interest to anyone with fair skin or who experiences frequent razor burn.
JohnnyO. \ :shave
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Re: Artisan's Mark 5 Shaving Soap
Nice review Johnny. There is certainly a market for sensitive skin products out there, no question.
Nice review Johnny. There is certainly a market for sensitive skin products out there, no question.
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Re: Artisan's Mark 5 Shaving Soap
I got my sample through yesterday, and will be shaving with it today so will be giving my thoughts later on :shave
I got my sample through yesterday, and will be shaving with it today so will be giving my thoughts later on :shave
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Re: Artisan's Mark 5 Shaving Soap
OK, had a shave with the Mark 5 earlier.
Have to admit, my experience pretty much mirrors that of Johnny. I tried lathering up with two brushes, my day to day Semogue 1305 and my old, seen better days, Edwin Jagger badger. I went with my Semogue first, as that's my normal brush, and the soap lathered up straight away without much effort. Now, I'm still breaking in my Semogue, so my lather results with it are varied, but I had enough lather there for two passes, with an easy refill for my third pass, which is better than I do with many soaps I have (including Tabac!). So, full marks for latherability.
At this point I'd add a caveat that, for me, I prefer a fuller, richer lather and, as Johnny points out, the Mark 5 gives a lighter covering but I'll make an important point about this later.
After finishing my shave with my Semogue, I used my badger for my head shave to test how it dealt with the Mark 5 and, again, the results were very pleasing and gave me enough lather to complete the shave.
Now, to my important point mentioned above, and this is to do with the end result. How did the Mark 5 shave? Simple answer, brilliantly. I'm not the easiest on my face, so this was a real tester for the soap, I use a Fatboy with Feather blade, and always do an ATG pass. I had absolutely no irritation or soreness at all and my face was left feeling smooth and moisturised, with a lovely BBS result. I'd even go as far to say that my end result was as good as I get with my favourite soaps. The shave was lovely, smooth and slick. So, really, who needs a fuller and deeper lather if the shave is so good?
I'd agree with Johnny, I'd say that this soap could be sold as is, or is very near to being at that stage. Would I buy some? Most definitely.
OK, had a shave with the Mark 5 earlier.
Have to admit, my experience pretty much mirrors that of Johnny. I tried lathering up with two brushes, my day to day Semogue 1305 and my old, seen better days, Edwin Jagger badger. I went with my Semogue first, as that's my normal brush, and the soap lathered up straight away without much effort. Now, I'm still breaking in my Semogue, so my lather results with it are varied, but I had enough lather there for two passes, with an easy refill for my third pass, which is better than I do with many soaps I have (including Tabac!). So, full marks for latherability.
At this point I'd add a caveat that, for me, I prefer a fuller, richer lather and, as Johnny points out, the Mark 5 gives a lighter covering but I'll make an important point about this later.
After finishing my shave with my Semogue, I used my badger for my head shave to test how it dealt with the Mark 5 and, again, the results were very pleasing and gave me enough lather to complete the shave.
Now, to my important point mentioned above, and this is to do with the end result. How did the Mark 5 shave? Simple answer, brilliantly. I'm not the easiest on my face, so this was a real tester for the soap, I use a Fatboy with Feather blade, and always do an ATG pass. I had absolutely no irritation or soreness at all and my face was left feeling smooth and moisturised, with a lovely BBS result. I'd even go as far to say that my end result was as good as I get with my favourite soaps. The shave was lovely, smooth and slick. So, really, who needs a fuller and deeper lather if the shave is so good?
I'd agree with Johnny, I'd say that this soap could be sold as is, or is very near to being at that stage. Would I buy some? Most definitely.
Re: Artisan's Mark 5 Shaving Soap
Although this seems to be an unscented soap I think I noticed a slight nuttiness in the odour.
First lather was a wash out - plenty of product but more air bubbles that an Swiss cheese.
Second lather better - creamier but seemed a little sparse.
So far so good - all the high quality soaps I have used were difficult to lather when new, due to their hard and dry state, and I deliberately did not hydrate the cake before use as I would normally do for the sake of experimentation.
Tomorrow I will hydrate before use and try again confidently expecting better results.
The shave? - perfectly acceptable with a little dryness afterwards, this I attribute to the lather not being full developed (user error!)
As always, each new soap has to be learned.
Although this seems to be an unscented soap I think I noticed a slight nuttiness in the odour.
First lather was a wash out - plenty of product but more air bubbles that an Swiss cheese.
Second lather better - creamier but seemed a little sparse.
So far so good - all the high quality soaps I have used were difficult to lather when new, due to their hard and dry state, and I deliberately did not hydrate the cake before use as I would normally do for the sake of experimentation.
Tomorrow I will hydrate before use and try again confidently expecting better results.
The shave? - perfectly acceptable with a little dryness afterwards, this I attribute to the lather not being full developed (user error!)
As always, each new soap has to be learned.
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Re: Artisan's Mark 5 Shaving Soap
I've used this a couple of times now and had a bit of a play about with it, bowl and face lathered - the only thing I haven't done is use a DE but I just haven't been in the mood lately.
This is by far the most successful formula so far. The lather has none of the effervescence of previous versions, and whilst the texture is still quite light it's now close and not at all airy. It's also much more stable which isn't to say that it will last forever - it won't - but it certainly doesn't die before your very eyes. Similarly it will dry on you face if you leave it too long, but it's no worse in that respect than quite a number of well regarded commercial soaps.
The water / soap ratio was absolutely critical with the earlier samples, but now there's quite a bit of latitude available to make the lather stiffer or softer, though I don't think it'll ever be thick and unctuous because this just isn't that kind of soap. For this reason it isn't ideal for the cut throat razor user in a hurry, the protection it affords being adequate rather than generous. Pleasingly, the excellent skin feel which I've noted before remains unaltered, and there's no sign of any tingle let alone sting, which perhaps isn't so surprising for an unscented product.
So is it ready to be marketed? I tend to think so, though for my purposes I'd still like to see more creaminess in the lather, and a touch more "greasiness" to stop it drying and to provide more slip. DE users though may well think that it's nicely judged as it stands. Congratulations Artisan, this is a good shaving soap.
I've used this a couple of times now and had a bit of a play about with it, bowl and face lathered - the only thing I haven't done is use a DE but I just haven't been in the mood lately.
This is by far the most successful formula so far. The lather has none of the effervescence of previous versions, and whilst the texture is still quite light it's now close and not at all airy. It's also much more stable which isn't to say that it will last forever - it won't - but it certainly doesn't die before your very eyes. Similarly it will dry on you face if you leave it too long, but it's no worse in that respect than quite a number of well regarded commercial soaps.
The water / soap ratio was absolutely critical with the earlier samples, but now there's quite a bit of latitude available to make the lather stiffer or softer, though I don't think it'll ever be thick and unctuous because this just isn't that kind of soap. For this reason it isn't ideal for the cut throat razor user in a hurry, the protection it affords being adequate rather than generous. Pleasingly, the excellent skin feel which I've noted before remains unaltered, and there's no sign of any tingle let alone sting, which perhaps isn't so surprising for an unscented product.
So is it ready to be marketed? I tend to think so, though for my purposes I'd still like to see more creaminess in the lather, and a touch more "greasiness" to stop it drying and to provide more slip. DE users though may well think that it's nicely judged as it stands. Congratulations Artisan, this is a good shaving soap.